I enjoyed watching the nostalgic flashbacks from Gladiator in the intro scene. It built up my expectations for the next chapter in the Roman Empire saga, which takes place 16 years after the epic battle between Maximus and Commodus.

Ridley Scott marginally captivated my attention with Gladiator II. The film had great potential, but the action scenes took away from the storyline. The headliners appeared to have missed the mark and did not connect with their character. There were also unnecessary comical scenes – the type of humor that is unsuitable for a corrupt Roman Empire theme.

I believe the highlight of the movie was the reveal of Hanno as Lucius Farris Verus (Paul Mescal), the heir to the Roman Empire and son of Maximus Decimus Meridius and Lucilla (Connie Nielsen). Nielsen’s performance was great and contributed in linking the storyline. As for Mescal, it took him about half of the movie to finally enliven Lucius and gain momentum. Mescal took on a huge role but demonstrated that he is able to illustrate his character and bring action to the screen.

It was interesting to see Denzel Washington in the role of Macrinus, a former slave turned gladiator, to now an arms dealer. Macrinus is a wild character. Denzel gave out too much of the New York gangster vibes, which seemed odd for the Common Era. However, his sword fight scene with Lucius (Mescal) had some intensity but was short-lived.

As for Pedro Pascal’s character Marcus Acacius, he wasn’t given enough depth. It felt more like a special appearance, there for reference. Same goes for Joseph Quinn’s character Emperor Geta. There is something about Geta that is intriguing and left me with wanting to know more about his background and his mentioned illness from “his loin to his head”.

Throughout the film there were several Gladiator flashbacks, which was exciting, but it was more of a filler to retain the audience attention. Screenwriter David Scarpa, who also wrote the screenplay for Gladiator, presented a strong storyline for the sequel, but was clouded by the cast of characters and exaggerated low-quality special effects. Specifically, the naval battle scene where the Colosseum is flooded to accommodate huge boats and some sharks for added entertainment. Yes, there are historical theories that the Colosseum was flooded by Titus and Domitian for naval battles, but the water would be approximately 5 feet deep, and they used flat bottom boats (more like canoes).

Spolier Alert!

Gladiator II was rather entertaining, but it left me with these dubious questions: If Geta named his pet monkey Dundus as successor, why is he not Caesar? If Lucius succeeded in reigning the power as Caesar and Rome is being given back to the people, why does he grab a fist full of dirt in the arena and asks for the spirit of his father to talk to him? Are we going to see a Gladiator III?

This musical film totally amazed me. Although it’s rather lengthy and there is a lot to take in, it was done fairly well. Director Jon M. Chu did a spectacular adaptation bringing the popular Broadway musical Wicked onto the big screen, which was inspired by the 2003 novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire.

Chu takes the audience on an exciting adventure to the wonderful Land of OZ with Wicked. There are many visual references (especially in the intro scene) to the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, which many will find nostalgic. The film expands on the backstory of Elphaba Thropp (Cynthia Erivo), focusing on her childhood and the non-existence relationship with her father Frexspar Thropp (Andy Nyman), yet is close and protective to her younger sister, Nessarose “Nessa” Thropp (Marissa Bode). Elphaba’s journey begins when she arrives at Shiz University where she meets Galinda “Glinda” Upland (Ariana Grande).

Elphaba (Erivo) is seen as the outcast, due to her green appearance and unable to harness her emotions – anger triggers her strong magical ability. While Glinda (Grande) is the privileged popular aristocrat that uses her beauty and charismatic ways to influence others. The students at the Shiz University are just smitten over her. However, Elphaba’s powers strike an interest with Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh), which makes Glinda envious.

As the storyline moves along through the catchy musical numbers and dancing, we see how Glinda is the egocentric, pompous manipulator and bullies not just Elphaba but Doctor Dillamond (Peter Dinklage) – the talking goat professor. But, what’s a musical without a little drama? Jonathan Bailey is a remarkably good singer and shows off his vocal skills as the handsome, yet shallow Fiyero Tigelaar. Fiyero arrives at the university, you can only think he will be perfect for Galinda but ends up caught in a love triangle between Glinda and Elphaba. This takes Glinda’s jealousy to the extreme and sees an opportunity to belittle Elphaba by persuading her to wear the infamous black hat during a student night outing. When Elphaba shows up looking like…a witch, everyone laughs and ridicules her. It gets highly emotional when Elphaba pretends to dismiss their reactions and begins to do swaying dance to no music. Glinda finally realizes that she has gone too far with teasing Elphaba. This scene sets up for the transformation of both Glinda and Elphaba, especially for when they meet the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum) master of illusion and exploitation. Not to give out any spoilers, there are so many other details and surpise appearences in this musical that ends in a powerful cliffhanger for Wicked Part II.

Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande were the perfect pairing for this film. Both ladies have such powerhouse voices, which complement each other. Regardless that I was never an Ariana Grande fan, she was impressive taking on the role of Galinda – Glinda. She had that character down from the sweet voice, dancing, quirky gestures to the hair flipping. Cynthia Erivo gave an astounding flawless performance and dominated the screen with her incredible voice. I can definitely see her acting career taking off to the next level, “Defying Gravity”!

Wicked has it all – majestic cinematography, fabulous costumes, best soundtrack, great storyline with solid performances. It will surely be “Popular” at the box office.

“A Real Pain” film is written and directed by Jesse Eisenberg is about two cousins with complete polar opposite personalities that come together to take a trip to Poland in memory of their grandmother who recently passed away. While they appear happy to reunite, the journey only rehashes their past conflicts with one another.

The movie beings with the melodramatic music, which sets the tone when we see Benji Kaplan (Kieran Culkin) sitting at the airport, with the look of no care of the world while waiting for his cousin David Kaplan ( Jesse Eisenberg) to show up. They seem excited to see each other and ready to get on the flight to Poland. However, Benji’s personality begins to emerge and so does the comedy. Benji uses flattery in such a hilarious way to manipulate David, and gets what he wants out of him. When they meet up with other people in their tour, Benji uses his dark raw sense of humor and becomes the popular one in the group. During their sightseeing of the city, Benji coerces David in to taking pictures for everyone on their cellphones and gets treated as the errand boy.

It gets more hysterical with Benji’s continuous satire and deflecting his actions onto David, and even becomes brazen to the tour guide James (Will Sharpe). Benji manages to get his way again, and strangely enough the group is mesmerized. There is a crucial moment where the group visits a concentration camp and are asked to remain silent out of respect… I gasped, along with others in the theater, hoping Benji doesn’t act out… In fact, the visit to the Holocaust allowed him to grieve. But nonetheless, Benji waited for the opportunity to get the group’s attention with his sobbing.

During a group dinner, David lashes out and “over shares” the deep personal family issues involving Benji that results in the group showing sympathy towards Benji – the vanity for more attention. In the hotel room, David finally confronts Benji and they vent out their differences. The point being, Benji needs to get over his emotional hurt and move on. David strikes a chord with Benji when he tells him how he can light up a room, but manages to ruin the moment.

At the end of the movie, the Kaplan cousins are back home at the airport. David politely invites Benji to stay with him in New York for dinner and to meet his family, but Benji kindly declines. Benji tells David he prefers to hang around the airport because, “You meet the craziest people here (airport).” The emotions hit you when you see Benji left sitting alone in a crowded airport. The look in his eyes says it all.

Kieran Culkin has an another outstanding performance portraying an emotionally disturbed young man, Benji, who is unable to overcome his personal complex issues. Culkin’s talent illuminates the screen with is incredible diverse acting that contributes to the story’s depth. He really brings the audience to laughter and leaves them feeling empathy for Benji’s pain.

Jesse Eisenberg did a magnificent job with directing this film. He turned a painful situation into a dramatic comedy in a lighthearted way focusing on the love hate between relatives, something the audience can relate to. In a particular scene, the Kaplan cousins take a car ride to visit the town their deceased grandmother found refuge from the camps, along the way they pass a sign similar to the Pisces in the zodiac. We see this sign again when they leave the town. I saw this as a symbolism of how opposite David and Benji’s characters are from each other. David is the responsible, and successful, family man. Benji is carefree, impulsive, snarky, and unstable. Could the fish also symbolize Benji fishing for attention to comfort his pain, as we see him people watching at the airport?

“A Real Pain“ is truly worthy of some Oscar nominations.